Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees, But Maybe Crypto Does…

CryptoCoin.News spoke to Stephen Cutter, founder of the Wuji Foundation which has huge ambitions to plant trees to help the planet. However, in doing so it seeks to capture the Natural Capital Assets associated with each living tree and convert that into value in its platform. It is partnering with a number of formidable bodies that will leapfrog its value proposition very quickly. As a not-for-profit, it can appeal to corporates wishing to increase their CSR while availing of tax cuts at the same time.

We first asked Stephen to explain in his words what the Wuji Foundation does:

Initially, the Foundation will raise money in order to plant trees. Wuji then gives reward seeds for the members to be able to use or for goods and services or exchange with other partner blockchain platforms.

Who is your target audience?

Our target audience has many demographics including individuals and organizations who are already contributing towards planting trees to offset their carbon footprint and provide the ability to earn additional rewards for their efforts.

We are also working to develop partnerships with organisations who are willing to contribute a portion of every good sold on the Wuji platform towards planting trees. This will be a tax write-off, boost their social impact marketing and create a loyalty rewards system.

What is Natural Capital Accounting?

NCA is a principle recognized by the UN, World Bank, Natural Capital Coalition, Waves, Seea.org and many other universities that state that the living eco-systems have monetary value.

For example, elements such as CO2 sequestered, Oxygen produced, soil retention, biodiversity created and water purified are all metrics of value. We look to track the trees being planted under our platform and then issue rewards to the contributors and tree planting partners.

How can you grow something from nothing?

It doesn’t grow from nothing. Actually, each seed is directly linked to the tree that’s planted, thus creating a new standard which we call The Green Standard. And we use blockchain to track those records.

Why aren’t you running an ICO?

Wuji doesn’t want to create another system for speculation and scarcity. Wuji seeds will only be created after a contribution is made towards planting trees and the value the seed represents will only be that of what NCA it has created.

How do you create a seed coin?

After a contribution, the Tree Planting Partner (TPP) will record the tree that has been planted and it will be hashed to our platform using GPS coordinates, the type of tree, date, age of the tree, and who planted it. This will, therefore, create a proof of action.

How will the coins be used thereafter?

There are many phases for the seeds to generate abundance.

Step one is to create a simply rewards systems for organizations who need to offset their carbon footprint and they can also use it as a rewards system.

Step two is to build the network of businesses and individuals who will accept the seed as a form of payment. This can also be peer-to-peer commerce.

Step three is where we can create a pension fund. People can invest literally into the future of the planet and their financial future. We can have a ten, twenty and thirty-year fund.

Wuji and Give intend to work together to create one of the first platforms that children can give to. The children can put it into a school fund or use it for continual educational programs and platforms. There are 5 million children registered with Gift.si

Going forward how will the platform sustain itself?

Wuji plans to use a percentage of the funds raised for operations and development and also collect a small percentage of the NCA to generate an environmental and social impact fund.

What is your background in brief?

I have been a lifelong entrepreneur. About seven years ago I decided to dedicate my life towards creating positive impact. I have been in the tech space for the last three years and have a rideshare company ridewuji.com looking to launch soon in Minnesota and also have an Eco-Institute outside Chicagoland that is looking to develop a tech impact hub in Nature. More info at outlanding.com

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Jillian has held senior positions with global PR companies in Sydney, Singapore, London and Dublin. She was PRO of Iona Technologies (Ireland’s first company to float on NASDAQ). She changed the law in Ireland in 2014 and is a former European Parliamentary candidate (on an anti-austerity ticket). She is a freelance journalist with CryptoCoin.News, The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. She has her own radio show on DublinCityFM. Her first job after graduating from Trinity College was as a systems analyst with JP Morgan.